Peaches by Jodi Lynn Anderson

I read this a filler for the week off between my BOTM books, it was a freebie from Nook I got a few months ago, it looked like some light reading.  It was light reading, this is a sort of typical teen book about three girls from very different backgrounds who become the best of friends and stick by each other through the hard times.  It is a story that we have read a bunch of times, but thanks to Mrs. Anderson’s  writing I didn’t mind.   As a kid I loved the “Babysitter Club” series and this book reminded me of it, not storyline wise, but the flow and the writing style.
The three main girls are Leeda, who is the vision of a Southern Belle.  She is wealthy, beautiful, popular, perfect.  At least at first glance.  Her mother prefers her older sister, and Leeda is often pushed aside.  Murphy, is a poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks, she is wild and a bit slutty.  She has anger issues stemming from her mom parading all sorts of men through her life.  Birdie, is the sweetheart of the story and the glue that holds Leeda and Murphy together as friends.  Birdie is a naïve country girl, homeschooled and very shy.
The story is set in Birdie’s father’s orchard.  Leeda is Birdie’s cousin and to prevent Leeda from spending time with her boyfriend Rex her parents sentence her to the Orchard for Spring Break.  Murphy gets caught trespassing on the Orchard and is sentenced to serve her “community service” there over spring break as well.  Spring Break turns into the entire summer as the Leeda and Murphy help Birdie work the orchard that is almost bankrupt and about to be sold to the neighboring golf course.   There is boy drama, and friendship drama, and family drama.   All so classic in a teen novel.  The girls are so likable and the setting it is so picturesque that I found myself drawn in.  In fact as soon as I finished I downloaded the next two in the series to read at a later date because I want to know what happened to these girls.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

So this was a BOTM book.  I had seen the miniseries when I was a child and vaguely remembered liking it but I didn’t remember any details, which is nice because I can take a fresh view of the book.  I thought I would like this book, I didn’t.  I didn’t absolutely hate it, but I wish I had checked it out of the library rather than purchasing it.
The book is originally set in Texas and is the story of a cattle drive to Montana by group that is led by retired Texas Rangers Call and Gus.  They have two of their fellow companions Deets and Pea Eye, and a young boy with them.  Plus some hands they hired on.  Along for the ride but separate are another of the former Ranger Jake and whore Lorena.  The description to Lonesome Dove Texas and the characters were so bleak. The characters felt depressing and dull, Lorena is hopeless, the hands are witless, the landscape is god awful. Thankfully, that feeling only lasted until about chapter 8 or this would have been a really long read.
I did not feel a connection with this book is ok and I do find that I want to know what happens, but I'm not excited about it. Sadly I barely took any notes while reading. Which says to me that I have pretty neutral feelings about the book.
What few notes I did take were about the female characters....why are they all whores? There were non whores in the west, why aren't they in the story? The female main characters are all either currently whores or previously whores and hiding it. Does Mr. McMurtry have poor opinions of women? And if the woman does have brains she is unliked and portrayed as a bitch.  For example July’s sister-in-law Peach is unlinked because she is an intelligent woman, but man someone in this book needs some brains.
The story is rambling and pointless, nobody seems to have a plan, even Call who is supposed to be this great worker. And I know that back in the west the there was little education, but that doesn't mean everybody was simple minded. The two characters that did have some brains and are made out to be eccentric old fools. And there were tons of death that just seemed pointless, like McMurtry created too many characters and didn’t know what to do with them so he killed them.

All that being said my favorite character is still Gus. He seems like a decent guy. He seems to genuinely care about people, which is a bit refreshing in this book.
This book reminds me so much of my dad, that I keep picturing him when reading, for example when Call gives Newt the gun and says "Better to have it and not need it, then need it and not have it." I heard my dad saying it not Call. My dad says that sort of thing all the time. When ever I read a western I can't help but to compare the characters to my dad, he is one of the last real cowboys in my eyes. And the character that reminds me the most of him is Gus, the way he jabbers and sees things in the people around him is like my dad, but when it comes to actual verbiage, my dad is more like call. Also, the way Call never stops working reminds me of my dad, at 78 my dad is still breaking horses and works most of the day, although the ranch is smaller than it used to be.
I'm glad it is over. But it felt incomplete, leaving Newt and the boys in Montana while taking Gus back to Texas. Nothing seemed resolved,what was the point of the story?  I feel like I missed something. It gives me warm and fuzzies because of my dad, but that is it’s only redeeming thing.

Book Five of Merlin’s Decedents: Guardians of the Promise by Irene Radford

I received this eBook free through LibrayThing’s Early Review program.  This is the fifth book in a series of novels focusing on the mythical bloodline of Merlin. I have read and reviewed the previous four books.
This installment is set in the time of the Revolutionary War, and moves the Kirkwood family from Great Britain to America.  And thank goodness Radford went back to her same style as her first two in the series.  Thank goodness!  I sped through the book.  This story had a lot more politics than magic, but the story was still enthralling.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

For those of you haven’t read Tolkien I am going to try very hard not to give away spoilers. It was a pretty easy read I think, maybe it is because it is the umpteenth time I have read it. Since I am a fan, I thought I should include a little bit of fun facts and history. Tolkien was fascinates with languages, which is what lead to him creating his own. He was a professor of Philogy, which is a branch of linguistics that studies written records. When he moved to Oxford to teach at Premboke College, the countryside inspired him to begin writing stories in which his languages would have been spoken. The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings stemmed not from the story but the stories stemmed from the languages.
The Hobbit follows the journey of Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo is a respectable bachelor who lives in his burrow Bag End . Bilbo is smoking his pipe on his front step one day when Gandalf the Grey, a wizard, stops by. Gandalf is looking for someone to join him on an adventure. Bilbo makes it clear that he does not want an adventure, but Gandalf feels differently and secretly leaves a mark on Bilbo’s door. The next day 13 dwarves arrive at Bibo’s house for tea and enlist him in a treasure hunt. The dwarves tell of the dragon Smaug that attacked the dwarves home under the Lonely Mountain, and slew most of the dwarves and claimed the treasure there for his own. Something stirs in Bilbo and to his own surprise he leaves with the dwarves on the adventure. They first are delayed by trolls, which they defeat and take some of their weapons for their own. Then they make it Rivendell and visit with the elves there. It is in Rivendell that they discover the secret door into the lonely mountain. After leaving Rivendell they are captured by Goblin’s and get separated. Bilbo finds a golden ring on the floor and puts it in his pocket without even thinking about it. Bilbo finds Gollum in the bowels of the Goblin lair, and participates in a riddle contest with him. Bilbo wins and Gollum is supposed to lead him out, but Gollum tries to trick him and Bilbo slips the ring on and becomes invisible. Gollum become outraged, because he realizes that Bilbo has the ring and in his rage he heads for the exit and Bilbo follows him out. While escaping they are treed by the Goblins and wargs (giant wolves), and are rescued by the Mighty Eagles. After leaving the Eagles, Gandalf leaves the group and the dwarves and Bilbo have to navigate the forest of Mirkwood on their own, which is disastrous. First the dwarves are captured by spiders and when Bilbo rescues them, the whole group is captured by Wood Elves. Bilbo escapes capture by slipping on his ring again. Bilbo rescues them by putting the dwarves in barrels add floating them down the river, where they are rescued by the men of Rivertown. From there they finish their journey to the Lonely Mountain, and Bilbo sneaks in and gets his first view of Smaug. It is there that he notices that there is a scale missing from his chest, right over his heart. Bilbo sends a message to Bard in the Rivertown with this information, and when Smaug attacks Rivertown in his anger over Bilbo’s visit and theft, Bard is able to slay Smaug. Afterwards the Men and Elves of Mirkwood demand treasure from the dwarves, however the dwarves do not want to share, and a war is started. The dwarves summon reinforcements from his cousin. It is during this battle that the Dwarves, Elves, and Men are attacked by Goblins and the Eagles join the battle, which becomes known as the Battle of Five Armies. The Goblins are defeated and in the spirit of the alliance the treasure was shared. Bilbo returns home with his treasure and his ring.
I think of all the books, this is my favorite because it is such an easy read and so whimsical. Hopefully, once we get into the trilogy there will be a discussion of the different tones to the stories. I feel that the trilogy defiantly shows more adult focused audience in Tolkien’s writing style, whereas the Hobbit was written for children and it reflects that. The Hobbit was originally stories told to Tolkien’s children, and it was his good friend CS Lewis that persuaded him to submit it for publication. Which I for one am very thankful for.
Hobbits are a race completely invented by Tolkien; the other races in the books were infused by Tolkien’s studies of Norse, Welsh, and other myths to form their descriptions. I love the descriptions of fat little hobbits that are fond of food and drink and smoke, but are made of much sterner stuff than they first appear. Look at how many messes Bilbo got the dwarfs out of. As Gandalf said at that first dinner in Bilbo’s home “There is a lot more in him than you guess, and a deal more than he has any idea of himself. You may (possibly) all live to than me yet.” Which is true, Bilbo pulled the dwarfs asses out of the fire many times.
Tolkien is so descriptive, but not in a way Steinbeck or MacLean descriptive. To me at least Tolkien’s descriptions are just detailed enough to draw you in and paint the picture in your mind, without boring you. It makes me want to live in a hobbit hole, and visit Rivendell. The Mirkwood scares me, and the River town sounds like a great vacation spot. My imagination formed Middle-Earth in my mind the first time I read the hobbit in 5^th or 6^th grade and it hasn’t changed over the years, only become more enriched each time I read the book. I am actually quite nervous to see the movies, because middle earth is so formed in my mind, and it was one of the things that upset me about LOTR trilogy movies. Some things were better than I imagined, while others did not live up to my expectations. Although, I do admit that when the songs are sung in the book I hear them in my head the way they were sung in the1977 cartoon version.
So between every reading of the Hobbit, I forget about Beorn, so every time it is like a new discovery, I’m not sure why this section of the book is so forgettable to me, because it isn’t badly written. I just can’t seem to keep it in my brain.
It amazes me how easily Bilbo picks up the ring and puts it in his pocket. With no thoughts, it called to him, and with no chance to resist he starts the whole LOTR story in motion.
As a side note, I haven't seen the movie The Hobbit yet, but I was speaking to a friend at work and he said that the Movie incorporates parts of the Simirillion in it as well, and that is why it is three hours and three movies long....which makes sense, but makes me VERY nervous.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

This story is set in Brooklyn in 1912 through 1917.  It follows the life of a poor family, the Nolans, mainly from the point of view of the precocious Francie.  I really liked it, I thought it was an easy read, the characters were likable and relatable. I even liked Johnny (the drunken father), I have a soft spot for characters who are truthful with themselves. He knew he was a drunk, he tried to do right by his family, but he never denied what he was. I think stopping drinking is what actually killed him, he was going through withdrawal and that is why his hands shook so. I loved that Francie had a love of reading and how her mother cultivated it. I understand Katie's desperation to give her kids a better life than she had herself, I think that is what all parents want. I can relate to the being poor, although as a kid we weren’t that bad off, or if we were my parents did a better job of hiding it that Katie did. I didn’t like the ending though, the whole novel felt so real and gritty, and then the fairytale came true that they had enough money and the kids could finish school thanks to Daddy Warbucks, I mean officer McShane. If Francie had continued to fight and put herself through school it would have seemed much truer to the story to me and I would have been happier. But overall I liked the book.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

This is the final BOTM book for 2012.  I wish I could say the year ended on a high note, but I can’t. 
The Secret History, the first novel by Mississippi-born writer Donna Tartt, was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1992. The story is an inverted detective story, not a Whodunit but a Whydunit.  It is set in New England, The Secret History tells the story of a closely knit group of six classics students at a small, elite Vermont college, Hampden College. The novel explores the circumstances and lasting effects of a student’s death on the academically and socially isolated group of Classics students of which he was a part.
We meet the Narrator Richard Papen in the prologue, and he is reflecting, years later, on the situation that led to a murder within the group, the murder being confessed at the outset of the novel but the events otherwise revealed sequentially.   In the prologue we find out that 5 students kill their classmate Edmund “Bunny” Corcoran, although few details are given. In the first few chapters, we meet all the main characters and participants of the classics group: Henry Winters, Francis Abernathy, Charles Maculay, Camilla Maculay, and of course our dead student Bunny. Richard, is an outsider, whom has managed to get himself invited to join the very exclusive Classics department student body, of which is comprised solely of these six students. While reading about it, it has a cult like feel, and the teacher Julian is the leader. There are a lot of secrets that happen behind the scenes of the group that Richard is not privy to when he first joins but that are slowly revealed throughout the novel. The original five members are the typical rich kids who have no concept of the real world around them, and Richard is trying so hard to fit in that he comes up with a completely bogus past that is what he thinks they will accept. Richard is of course in love with Camilla, who doesn’t even register him on her romantic radar. So predictable.
We come to find out that Henry, Francis, Charles and Camilla, whom I have dubbed the fantastic 4 (can you tell what my 3 year old has me watching?), while creating some sort of Greek ritual, murder some poor farmer in his field. They of course have no memory of it but were covered in blood and gore, so know they are responsible. Bunny wasn’t there but he finds out shortly after it happens because he sees them all gory. Of course the fantastic 4 want to cover up the murder, god forbid these spoiled brats stand trial, and lord help us get convicted for committing a murder! So they cover it up, for some reason, that I’m not clear on, Bunny doesn’t tell either. But he does begin to blackmail them by expecting expensive trips and meals etc. He makes a ton of sly jokes to get under their skin. Bunny is a greedy sot! Making Camilla iron his shirts and Henry take him to Rome, then wants Paris, which WE know isn’t going to happen. I think he really pushed the envelope, and since he was blackmailing them, I don’t feel as sorry for his death as I probably should. He is just a real ass in the end.
So because Bunny is blackmailing the fantastic 4, the only option to them is to commit another murder, really? Didn’t they ever hear the saying two wrongs don’t make a right? Then when Richard is told all this, again for some unknown reason he sides with the fantastic 4, and even becomes an accessory in Bunny’s murder. I don’t understand Richard’s thought process, I mean it’s not like the fantastic 4 are a great bunch of people, what is the draw?
And the plans, the elaborate and complicated schemes that Henry originally came up with, poisoned mushrooms, creating a whole back-story, and then they just push him off a cliff. Seemed a bit haphazard and out of character. Also it was dull, the murder was boring, they waited on a path, when he came up they pushed him off the cliff. No arguments, no excitement, just bye bye.
The search for Bunny's body took forever to find and the funeral was a joke.   Then Richard is having nightmares, Francis is having panic attacks, Charles has become a drunkard. Guilt? About freaking time.   From the moment I found out Charles was angry at Camilla and Henry I knew that they were sleeping together and that was what Charles was so angry about. What I didn’t see coming was that Charles and Camille was in some incestual relationship not just a onetime thing for the bacchanal. Ewwww. Totally made me think of Flowers in the Attic.
I was happy when Richard began to connect the dots and see that Henry had masterminded and manipulated the whole situation. What I am confused about is why he did it? I mean he just ended up killing himself, so what was the point? I thought Henry was going to kill Charles and because Richard was shot call it defense. I agree turning the gun on himself was out of the blue and it didn’t seem in line with the character. I also thought that Henry trying to kill Charles and I thought maybe Henry killed them all and Richard was writing his memoirs so that when Henry came for him the authorities would know who did it. I was just hoping for a better ending I guess.
The reading bored me, the storyline is slow and this academia stuff makes me want to nap. I want the book to hurry up and get to the action of the murder already, then it skips it and goes to the boring aftermath. None of the characters are likable, and mostly they are bores, literally. Although, on a side note, I think Bunny would have been a great employee of Mr. Wednesday from American Gods.  I sort of wish we had Bunny’s perspective of things.  I didn’t absolutely hate this book like I have some we read earlier in the year, but I won’t re-read it either. I finished it and on time so that is an accomplishment.

Book Four of Merlin’s Decedents: Guardians of the Promise by Irene Radford

I received this eBook free from the LibraryThings early reviewer program.  This is the fourth book in a series of novels focusing on the mythical bloodline of Merlin. As this was the fourth book, I decided when I received it that I would find and download the first three in the series.  I hate coming in to the middle of a series.  I have already posted my reviews of the prior three books.  This story is set about 13 years after “Guardian of the Vision,” which places the story in the 16th century, it is about the children of Griffin and Donovan Kirkwood, whom were the protagonists of “Guardian of the Vision.” The main protagonist is Deidre (Dee) Kirkwood the illegitimate daughter of Griffin Kirkwood and Roanna Douglas.  Unlike the prior books in this series, to know what is happening, the reader really does need to read at least the third book if not the entire series first.  In this installment Elizabeth still rules and England is plagued by werewolves.  There is confusion as to who will be the next Pendragon, Dee or one of her Cousins Hal (whom Dee is in love with) or her other cousin Betsy (who is insane).  This book spans a 16 year period and we see Dee, Hal and Betsy grow from pre-teens to adults.  The Antagonist is Meneur de Loups more commonly known as El Lobison and his pet Werewolf Yassmine.
Many of the characters from “Guardian of the Vision” return in this book, so it was nice to know the backstory, although I suppose maybe if I hadn’t read the earlier novels this one wouldn’t have seemed so tedious.  This book took me 2 tries and 4 months to read, I was just unable to focus on the story and had to take copious notes to not forget what happened from one chapter to the next.  I think Radford made the same mistake in this book as she did in “Guardian of the Vision,” instead of focusing on and developing one character she spread herself to thin developing multiple characters.  Radford had Dees storyline, Hal’s storyline, Betsy’s storyline, Donavan’s Storyline and Yassmine’s storyline.  It was too much.  I was unable to connect to any of the characters, they were all too shallow.  What I really liked about the first two books in the series (which focused on a single protagonist) was that Radford went deeply into the characters, I connected to them.  These last two books the characters are like shadows, an outline of what they could be with not enough detail to really see them.  Also Radford dwelled too much on the history and not enough on the story.  I like having historical facts being part of the story, but if I want to read only historical events and details I’ll pick up a history book.
Overall I give this book a 1 star.  I have also received the fifth installment in this series through the LibraryThing early reviewer program, but I am not looking forward to reading it.  I’m hoping Radford goes back to her writing style of the first two books, but I wouldn’t place money on it.